Dunn Ties WNT Record with Five Goals Lloyd, O’Hara and Press Score; Mewis Tallies First International Goal USA Travels to Houston for Feb. 19 Semifinal with Olympic Berth at Stake

WNTFeb 15, 2016

FRISCO, Texas (Feb. 15, 2016) – The U.S. Women’s National Team finished atop Group A at the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, securing nine points and a 3-0-0 record after a 10-0 shutout of Puerto Rico at Toyota Stadium.

Crystal Dunn scored five goals in the match - a brace in the first half and three in the second - to lead the way for the USA. Dunn’s performance ties a U.S. WNT record for most goals scored in a match as she became the seventh player to achieve the feat in the 31 years of the WNT program.

Captain Carli Lloyd and Kelley O’Hara added a goal each to put the U.S. up 4-0 at the half. In the second half the USA added three goals in a span of one minute and 56 seconds, beginning with an own goal from Puerto Rico’s Ashley Rivera, followed by scores from Dunn and Christen Press. Samantha Mewis wrapped up the scoring in stoppage time with her first international goal.

Earlier in the day, Costa Rica defeated Mexico 2-1 in Group A action to finish second in Group A with six points and advance to the semifinal round where it will play the winner of Group B.

The USA now travels to Houston for the semifinal match on Feb. 19. Its opponent will be determined tomorrow following the conclusion of the Guyana vs. Trinidad & Tobago match in Group B. Guyana needs a win or a tie to advance, while Trinidad & Tobago needs to win to secure a place in the semifinals. The winners of the semifinal matches qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

Goal Scoring Rundown:
USA – Crystal Dunn (Mallory Pugh), 6th minute: Mallory Pugh made a dynamic run down the left flank, taking the ball to the top of the 18-yard box before passing it square to Dunn in the middle of the area. Dunn received the ball, controlled it and spun before rolling her shot on the ground into the lower right corner. USA 1, PUR 0 (SEE GOAL)

USA – Carli Lloyd (penalty), 18th minute: Mallory Pugh cut into the penalty box from the left side and was taken down by Selimar Pagan. Carli Lloyd hit a precise strike into the upper right corner for the second goal of the game and her 11th overall in Olympic Qualifying. USA 2, PUR 0 (SEE GOAL)

USA – Crystal Dunn (Christen Press), 21st minute: Jaelene Hinkle crossed a ball from the end line that was punched down by Puerto Rico goalkeeper Karly Gustafson, but it went right to Press. With her back to goal and Gustafson charging at her, Press found Dunn, who with her first touch sent a left-footed strike into the open net for her second goal of the match and first multi-goal game of her career. USA 3, PUR 0 (SEE GOAL)

USA – Kelley O’Hara (Stephanie McCaffrey), 45th minute: Carli Lloyd lofted a ball over the defense on the right to Stephanie McCaffrey, who controlled it and ran it into the box. McCaffrey’s cross on the ground found Kelley O’Hara who used a nifty heel-flick to score the fourth game of the match and second of her career. USA 4, PUR 0 (SEE GOAL)

USA – Ashley Rivera (own goal), 60th minute: Mallory Pugh made a run on the right side and sent a cross that was intended for Alex Morgan. The ball deflected off Puerto Rico’s defender Ashley Rivera and into her own net. USA 5, PUR 0 (SEE GOAL)

USA – Crystal Dunn (Alex Morgan), 61st minute: Following a Puerto Rico turnover in their own defensive third, Alex Morgan recovered the ball and passed it to Dunn, who ran it to the top of the box and sent a low shot that was deflected by a defender just inside the left post for her first career hat trick. USA 6, PUR 0 (SEE GOAL)

USA – Christen Press, 62nd minute: A clearance at the top of the Puerto Rico penalty box rolled right to Press at the top of the box and she sent a powerful strike into left side of the net for her second goal in this Olympic Qualifying tournament. USA 7, PUR 0 (SEE GOAL)

USA – Crystal Dunn (Meghan Klingenberg), 85th minute: Samantha Mewis passed the ball from the top of the 18-yard box to Meghan Klingenberg on the right side. With her first touch Klingenberg sent a cross into the middle to Dunn who sent a hard volley into the net for her fourth goal of the match. USA 8, PUR 0 (SEE GOAL)

USA – Crystal Dunn (Morgan Brian), 87th minute: Morgan Brian chipped a ball over the top of the defense to Dunn inside the penalty area. Dunn got a step on her defender and easily rolled her left-footed shot into the lower right corner from closer range for her fifth goal of the match, thus doubling her career goal total in one game. USA 9, PUR 0 (SEE GOAL)

USA – Samantha Mewis (Crystal Dunn), 90+1 minute: Crystal Dunn passed the ball to Samantha Mewis just past the midfield point and Mewis ran with it into the box, beat two defenders and spun a shot just inside the right far post for her first career goal and final goal of the match. USA 10, PUR 0 FINAL (SEE GOAL)

Next on the Schedule: The U.S. WNT heads to Houston to play in the semifinal round of the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship against the second place team from Group B on Friday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. CT. The winner of each semifinal game advances to the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. The U.S. is attempting to qualify for a sixth consecutive Olympics and win the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship for the fourth consecutive time. The USA’s semifinal match can be viewed live on NBCSN, NBC Universo and NBC Live Extra.

The U.S. WNT extended its streak to eight consecutive games in CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying without allowing a goal, dating back to the Final of the 2008 Qualifying tournament when the U.S. tied Canada 1-1 on April 12, 2008 and went on to win in penalty kicks 6-5.

U.S. WNT head coach Jill Ellis made eight changes to the starting lineup that featured in the first two matches of CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying by adding Alyssa Naeher, Kelley O’Hara, Emily Sonnett, Jaelene Hinkle, Stephanie McCaffrey, Samantha Mewis, Moallory Pugh and Christen Press, all of whom made their first start in the tournament.

Additionally, tonight’s match marked the first appearance in this year’s tournament for Naeher, O’Hara, Sonnett, McCaffrey and Mewis and Olympic Qualifying debuts for Naeher, Sonnett, McCaffrey and Mewis. O’Hara started three games in the 2012 tournament, and Hinkle, Press and Pugh had already seen action in the two previous group stage matches of the 2016 tournament.

Pugh, Hinkle and McCaffrey made their first career starts; Mewis and Sonnett started for the third time in their careers.

Ali Krieger, Carli Lloyd and Crystal Dunn are the only three players to start every game of the competition for the USA.

Six players have scored the USA’s 16 goals in the tournament so far: Dunn (6), Lloyd (3), Alex Morgan (2), Press (2), O’Hara (1) and Mewis (1). One was an own goal.

Naeher made her first start of 2016 and third career start in goal. She earned her fifth cap and third shutout.

Pugh became and the youngest U.S. player to start an Olympic qualifier when she was in the starting 11 against Puerto Rico on Feb. 15. She recorded her first career assist in tonight’s match. She became the youngest female player in WNT history to play in an Olympic qualifier match at 17 years, 9 months and 12 days old when she came on for Dunn in the 68th minute against Costa Rica on Feb. 10.

The USA has never lost a match in Olympic Qualifying, but it did tie Canada 1-1 in the title game of the 2008 tournament before prevailing in penalty kicks.

The WNT remains unbeaten in all-time CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying with a 16-0-1 record.

Tonight’s game was the first meeting between the USA and Puerto Rico in international competition.

The match in Frisco marked the WNT’s sixth at this stadium (formerly Pizza Hut Park and FC Dallas Stadium). The USA owns a 6-0-0 record, including a two wins against Canada, and victories against Costa Rica, Mexico and New Zealand prior to tonight’s match.

Milestone Watch:

Carli Lloyd leads the team with 12 all-time Olympic Qualifying appearances, followed by Hope Solo with 10. With 11 Olympic Qualifying goals scored, Lloyd is now three goals behind Abby Wambach’s U.S. record of 14 goals in Olympic qualifying.

Lloyd has now scored 85 international goals. She is in sixth place on the WNT’s all-time scoring list. Lloyd has scored 23 goals in the USA’s last 17 matches starting with the Round of 16 game vs. Colombia at the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

Before coming onto tonight’s match, Dunn had scored five goals for the U.S. WNT. She doubled that total today, notching five goals to tie a U.S. record for most goals scored in a match. She became the seventh player to achieve that feat. The other six were: Brandi Chastain, Michelle Akers, Tiffeny Milbrett, Abby Wambach, Amy Rodriguez and Sydney Leroux. It was Dunn’s first multi-goal game for the WNT.

Dunn has now scored six goals in Olympic Qualifying, tying Alex Morgan. She became the 21st U.S. WNT player to score in an Olympic qualifier when she scored in her debut against Costa Rica on Feb. 10. Christen Press became the 22nd, O’Hara the 23rd and Mewis the 24th.

The last time the U.S. Women scored in double-figures was against Guatemala at the 2012 Olympic qualifying tournament in a 13-0 win.